1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a one-piece blank foldable to form a carton, and particularly a blank adapted to be internested with identical blanks for cutting from a single sheet of material with a minimum of waste.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although the carton of the present invention is adapted to contain various types of materials, it is particularly adapted for containing liquids. Prior art cartons for this purpose generally fall within three broad types. One carton type is that which is fabricated out of separate component parts. This permits the blanks for the component parts to be closely internested for cutting from a sheet or strip of card stock with very little waste, but individual handling and stocking of the separate parts is a problem and the carton as a practical matter must therefore be assembled at the paper plant rather than at the filling facility. The cost of shipping assembled but empty cartons to the filling facility is prohibitive.
Another type of carton avoids the problem of utilizing separate component parts. It is made of one-piece blank which is scored or creased for folding of the blank into the desired carton. Most of the cartons of this type are wasteful of sheet material, either by virtue of the manner in which they must be folded to form a carton, or by virtue of the inability to closely internest the blanks for cutting from a single sheet or strip of card stock. For example, one such carton blank is creased for folding into an open-ended tube having four side panels and a closure flap at each end of each side wall panel. After the blank side margins are secured together to form the carton tube, the four closure flaps are overlapped at one end in an arrangement which results in several thicknesses of sheet stock where the flaps overlap. This is not only wasteful of material but it complicates the process of quickly and efficiently forming a seal between the overlapping portions. Often such a carton is also characterized by one end in which the end flaps are folded into a triangular, peaked roof configuration. This is also characterized by several thicknesses of overlapping material in certain areas, but it suffers the additional disadvantage of making it impossible to stack such cartons.
A third type of prior art carton is characterized by a one-piece blank foldable to form the carton, but the geometry or configuration of the carton blanks and the sizes of the panels and end flaps are such that a plurality of such blanks cannot be cut out of a single sheet of material without significant waste.